Malcolm Turnbull says Australia must put 'safety first' when asked about burqa banPrime minister refuses to be drawn on cabinet reshuffle after report suggests Greg Hunt to become health minister

Malcolm Turnbull said there were certain environments in which people's faces shouldn't be covered when asked about a call to ban the burqa in public buildings – but he insists it is a matter of "safety first" and is unrelated to religion.

The comments came in an interview with 4BC Radio in which Turnbull also refused to be drawn about an imminent cabinet reshuffle, after a report suggested Greg Hunt was in the box seat to become the health minister.

When asked a leading question about "how much of a risk to national security" the burqa is, Turnbull said: "It's not something that you should be generalising about but there are obviously environments where it's important for people's faces not to be covered for identity reasons.